December 12th 2024.
The legal battle between singer Guy Sebastian's former manager, Titus Day, and the NSW government has taken a new turn. Day, who was convicted in 2022 on 34 counts of embezzlement and sentenced to up to four years in jail, will now receive a compensation payout of almost $1 million before his retrial begins in May. This decision was made by the court today, ordering the government to pay Day by January 15.
Day had managed Sebastian through his company 6 Degrees from 2009 to 2017 before their professional relationship came to an end. He has consistently denied allegations of embezzling almost $900,000 from the Australian Idol winner through royalties, performance fees, and ambassador fees. However, the verdicts against Day were overturned after an appeals court found that prosecutors had made inappropriate comments to the jury during the closing address.
As a result of these errors, Day had to pay for legal work that was ultimately wasted. In light of this, the court has ordered the Crown to pay him $960,000 for "costs thrown away." This amount must be paid by January 15, and the retrial will not commence until it is received. The judge also expressed his disbelief at the prosecutors' protest over the tight timeframe, stating that it shouldn't take the state government more than a month to write a check.
During the trial and appeal, Day's legal fees amounted to about a million dollars, according to the court. Initially, he had requested almost $1,180,000 from the Crown, while they had only offered $296,000. This sum was gradually increased to $814,000 before the court's final decision. The retrial is set to begin on May 26, 2025, and is expected to last at least four weeks.
Sebastian first rose to fame in 2003 as the winner of the inaugural season of Australian Idol. He has since released multiple chart-topping songs and albums and has also been a judge on The X Factor and coach on The Voice Australia. To stay updated on all the latest news, sport, politics, and weather, you can download the 9News app available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
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